


For the Birds

by TheBardsCipher



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: I know it looks like there's going to be a plot but there's not, If this goes longer than four chapters I'm going to riot, Miles' personality is inspired by what I remember of Sonic X some of the games and RTFD, Ravens just be like that, There's a SatAM reference and there may or may not be a Sonic X reference later, no beta we just die, plot? I don't know her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23211754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBardsCipher/pseuds/TheBardsCipher
Summary: This was supposed to be loosely connected one-shots, so much for that!Best I've got is:"Tails befriends some birds, birds kick butt."
Comments: 47
Kudos: 194





	1. In Which Miles Prower is Increasingly Annoyed With a Raven

Miles had been on this planet for two days. In that time, he had made himself a make-shift shelter made out of some tarp and rope he had found, and started investigating the small town his scanner had pointed him in the direction of.

He needed to find The Blue Streak (Sonic, the owl had called him), before the Echidna piece together that he had duped them. However, he wasn't sure how friendly the people who lived in the town were so he'd only gone investigating during night.

Right now though, it was the evening and he was munching on one of the bagels from the bag he found behind what Miles assumed was a bakery or something of the sorts. He was happily eating when he felt one of the branches holding his make-shift hammock shake. He turned to come face to face with a big black bird. Miles swallowed.

“Hello there. Can I help you?” He asked.

The bird tilted its head to one side and then the other before making a loud “CAW”.

Miles jumped slightly but then let out a small laugh. “Well, you're not a Flicky, that's for sure.”

The bird hopped a bit closer and then before Miles knew what was happening, it snatched the bagel right out of his hand and took off.

“HEY!” Miles shouted. He quickly climbed onto the branch and flicked his tail, making the second one appear. He wind the two tails up and took off after the bird. “I was eating that!” He flew after the bird, weaving between trees and dodging branches. He soon spotted the bird landing at a nest. “Alright, I've got you,” Miles muttered. However, he stopped as he watched the bird split the bagel into multiple pieces and feed it to several baby birds and another big black bird.

The bird looked up at Miles and tilted its head.

Miles sighed. “Fine, you can steal my food this once,” he said. “I have something to do anyways.” He took off towards the town.

The following day Miles woke up to his hammock shaking. He cracked his eyes open and found that once again he was face to face with the same black bird. He let out a gasp and then his eyes narrowed. “Okay, just a second,” he grumbled. He sat up, throwing the bird off balance and it flapped its wings to keep stable. Miles grabbed the bag that had the bagels in it and split one in half. He offered a half of the bagel to the bird. “Here you go,” he said.

The bird tilted its head, cawed, and grabbed the half of the bagel Miles wasn't offering it before flying off.

Miles rolled his eyes. “Good day to you too!” He bit into the half of the bagel he still had.

The days went like this for a week. At noon, he'd wake up to the big black bird, he'd feed the bird and eat something himself, then he'd explore the woods, come back to his hammock and shelter, eat and maybe take a nap, explore the woods on the edge of town, see if he could see or hear anything about The Blue Streak, then come back and take notes. In the evening, the big black bird would come back and Miles would feed it once again. Then he'd explore the town. As soon as the sky started showing sign of light, he'd head back to his shelter and sleep.

By then Miles had explored nearly the entire town. He sat in his hammock glaring at the scanner. “I know he's in this general area! But where exactly is he?” He grumbled. He went to mess with the settings for the hundredth time. “How come the smallest zone is a ten mile radius?” He looked up from the scanner when he felt the hammock sway.

There the bird sat with its head tilted.

“Good evening,” Miles said.

The bird tilted it head to the other side and dropped something into the hammock. It then cawed loudly.

Miles laughed. “Yeah, yeah, let me get the bagel. I also found some berries by the grocery store so they probably have to be eaten quick. I'll leave some out for you when I leave tonight,” he said. He held out half of a bagel.

The bird cawed again before taking the half of the bagel Miles didn't offer it. However, this time it didn't take off. It looked down at what it had dropped earlier.

Miles moved to pick up what it dropped. “A bottle cap. Thanks.”

The bird flapped it wings in response. It then took off.

Miles laughed. “See you later!” He let out a sigh as he leaned back in his hammock. He lifted the bottle cap so it reflected the setting sun. It was a dark blue color. He hummed and then moved to get out of his hammock. He needed to get ready to continue his search.

For the next couple days, every time the bird stopped by it left behind a shiny. Miles was starting to wonder where he was going to put everything. Today, the big black bird had dropped off a screw. Miles moved the screw between a couple of fingers and stared off towards the town that he could barely see from his shelter.

Exploring the town during the night was doing nothing. He had explored most of the town by now. There were some houses he hadn't checked yet, but he wasn't sure if The Blue Streak would be in one of the houses at this point. However, he hadn't been able to find him in the woods during the day either.

Miles let out a huff and pushed out of the hammock onto the branch. He dug out a piece of scrap paper and a very dull, very small pencil. “That's it. Now is not the time to hide. I'll go explore the town during the day!” He jumped off the branch and flew towards the town.

He landed carefully on the roof of one of the buildings towards the center of town. He figured this would be one of the busier places of the town since it was where all the shops were. He watched as people walked by, not a single person glancing up to check their surroundings.

Miles had been people watching and taking notes for at least an hour when there was a loud cawing sound behind him. Miles gasped and ducked behind the sign he had been peeking around. He turned around and came face to face with the big black bird again. “Oh it's you,” Miles whispered.

The bird hopped over to him. It cawed at him again and flapped its wings.

“Sh, I don't have food on me right now,” Miles whispered.

The bird stopped and flapped its wings again.

“You're going to get me caught,” Miles muttered. He turned back to his notes.

The bird hopped up onto the sign and watched the people below. A blue streak that sped down the street caught the birds attention. It hopped back down and snatched the pencil from Miles before taking off.

“Hey! I was using that!” Miles yelped. He took off after the bird. He flew as close to the roofs of the buildings as he could so he wouldn't get spotted. Miles noticed that the bird was leading him into the section of the town he hadn't explored yet.

Soon the bird landed on the roof of a house. Miles landed besides the bird and held his hand out. “Give me that,” he whispered.

The bird dropped the pencil in Miles' hand.

Miles let out a sigh and glanced around. “Where are we ev-” he stopped midsentence and ducked behind the chimney. In the yard of the house across the street was a blue hedgehog. “Its him!” Miles whispered.

The bird glanced at Miles before flying over to perch on the fence of the house across the way. It cawed.

The blue hedgehog looked up. “Woah, you're a cool looking bird, very big!” He said.

Miles watched as the hedgehog pulled out some sort of device and tapped a button on it a few times.

“There! Now I have some photos to show Tom and Maddie,” the hedgehog said. He smiled as he swiped his finger across the screen of the device. “I'm sure Maddie will know what type of bird you are,” he said. His eyes narrowed as he moved his fingers across the screen. He muttered something and then looked over towards where Miles was.

Miles ducked behind the chimney and closed his eyes. He stayed like this until he heard the familiar sound of flapping wings and a loud caw. Miles slowly opened his eyes and looked down at the bird. “Good going. You nearly got me caught...” he whispered. He peeked back around the chimney to find The Blue Streak gone. “On the upside. I now know where he's at.” With that figured out, Miles quickly flew back to his shelter to prepare for the night.

Over the next few days Miles learns more about The Blue Streak. He did indeed go by the name Sonic. The two humans he lived with were named Tom and Maddie. Tom was a police man and Maddie was a veterinarian, which meant she worked with animals. They had a pet dog named Ozzie and Sonic enjoyed playing in the yard with him. The three of them watched a movie nearly every night.

Miles perched himself on one of the high branches of one of the trees a couple trees back. From here he could still see the yard pretty well. He dug in the small pullstring backpack he found two nights before and pulled out his small pencil and scrap paper. It was filling up fast now that he had found The Blue Streak...Sonic...he was going to have to find a new one soon.

Miles had also overheard that the bird he had befriended was called a Raven, so that was also noted in the corner of his paper.

The branch besides him shook and he glanced over. “Hello Raven,” he said.

The raven cawed at him.

“Sh, the cover up here isn't as well as it is in the lower branches. If they glance in my direction there's the possibility they could spot me,” Miles said.

The raven cawed again.

Miles sighed and dug in his bag again. He passed over half a bagel. “You're lucky the place leaves out a bag of these at the end of each day...” he grumbled.

The raven took the piece Miles offered since there wasn't another half it could steal.

Miles smiled as he watched the raven pick at it. “What? The little ones grow up? Or are you not on food duty today?”

The raven tilted its head before giving him a weird trill sound.

Miles laughed. “Alright, I'll stop asking.” He turned back to watching. Maddie nor Tom were anywhere to be seen, but Miles could see Sonic inside watching something. Miles had noticed that Sonic often watched a show with a human in a red suit. Miles checked to see if he had that written down and then jotted it down when that info wasn't there.

The next morning, the wind was blowing pretty hard. Storm clouds hung in the air and if the smell was anything to go by, it was going to rain soon. Miles was gathering berries off a nearby bush. Suddenly, a strong burst of wind blew by, nearly making him loose his balance. A panicked caw caught Miles' attention. His ears swiveled and pulled back. He dropped what little berries he had into his bag and ran in the direction the sound came from.

He soon found the raven on the ground, one of its' wings held out away from its body, bent at an angle Miles knew it shouldn't be at. The bird looked over in his direction and let out a sad clicking sound.

Miles ran over and knelt down next to the raven. “I know who can help,” he said. He gently picked up the raven and cradled it in his arms. His tails flicked behind him and with a couple steps he took off into the sky.

Miles took care not to move the bird too much. It started raining while he was flying towards the house he had been spying on. He weaved through the trees quickly as he followed the path he had memorized over the days.

Soon he landed carefully in the yard of the house, checking to make sure no one else was out, though who would be in this weather. He crept up to the front door and gently set the raven on the doorstep. He hesitated before loudly knocking on the door. Then he took a couple steps back and jumped so he could fly up onto the roof before he was seen.

He carefully peeked over the edge to watch as the lady, Maddie he reminded himself, stepped out.

“Oh! Oh dear, you're wings all busted...” she said. She carefully picked the bird up and took it inside, shutting the door behind her.

Miles' ears twitched as he tried to eavesdrop on their conversation, but he couldn't really hear anything else. He carefully stood up and turned around. He ran across the roof before jumping and flying off, not wanting to risk getting caught.


	2. In Which Sonic Has Pieces to a Puzzle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should also be titled: In Which Bard Pretends to Know What She's Talking About

Sonic laid on his bed glaring at the skylight. He was so focused on the skylight that he didn't even hear the commotion going on downstairs. His eyes narrowed at the skylight.

Sonic was One Hundred Percent Positive that he saw someone or something run just to the side of his skylight.

Something orange. Something with a tail. Something fuzzy.

Sonic rolled over and picked up the phone Tom and Maddie got him about a month ago. He tapped on the gallery icon and pulled up one of the pictures of the raven. He zoomed in like he did every time he looked at this photo. There by the chimney was something.

Something orange. Something with a tail. And if Sonic was going to take a guess, something fuzzy.

There was a knock on the floor and then the attic door was opened, the ladder hitting the floor below. Tom popped up.

Sonic sat up. “Uh, hi?”

Tom rested his arms on the floor by the opening. “Came up to check on you. With all the commotion down here the last few minutes, I thought you'd come to investigate,” he replied.

Sonic hummed and pushed off the bed. He was standing above Tom within seconds. “I was distracted. What WAS all that commotion about?”

Tom went down the ladder. “Maddie heard a sound at the door and opened it to find a raven with an injured wing. She suspects that it lost control due to the storm winds and ran into the door,” he said. He stepped to the side as Sonic hurried down.

Sonic looked up at Tom with wide eyes when he got to the bottom. “You don't think its the raven I got pictures of do you?”

Tom shrugged. “You're asking the wrong person here,” he said. He lifted the attic door shut.

Sonic nodded his head and zoomed off. A second later he stopped back in front of Tom. “Where's Maddie?”

“Took the bird to the vet. She didn't have what she needed here. She should be back by the end of the day though,” Tom replied. He headed into the kitchen. “Anyways, do you want to pop some popcorn and watch some Flash?”

Sonic beamed. “Do you even need to ask?” He zipped right over to the couch, jumping over the armrest to land perfectly on the corner cushion. He lifted the remote. “Tom! You're so slow!”

“I'm making the popcorn! You can be a little patient!”

“UGH!”

One bowl of popcorn, a lunch, and several episodes of Flash later, Maddie returned home. She held a box under her arm and shut the door quietly.

Sonic looked away from the TV and waved. “Hi Maddie! What's in the box?”

Maddie held a finger to her lips. “Hey Sonic, quiet voice. You don't wanna spook it,” she said.

Sonic tilted his head. “What do you have?” He asked softly.

Tom hummed as he looked over. “Is that the bird?” He asked.

Maddie nodded her head. “Yeah, I need a safe place to put this box. Preferably some place dark and not where we eat.”

Tom nodded his head. “We still have the one birdcage right?” He asked.

Maddie nodded her head. “Yeah, should be in the garage. Do you think that would be too cold? The only other place I can think of is the closet hallway and I don't think that would work,” she said.

Tom patted Sonic on the head before standing up. “I'll go find the birdcage,” he said.

Sonic jumped off the couch and ran over. “There's a bird in the box?” He asked. He stood on his tiptoes to try to see into the box.

Maddie turned so he couldn't peek into the box. “Careful, you don't want to scare it remember. You'll see it when I place it in the cage okay,” she said.

Sonic nodded his head. “Okay,” he whispered. He followed Maddie into the garage, where Tom was pulling out a cage.

“This is the right one right?” Tom asked.

Maddie nodded her head. “Yep.” She walked over and gently placed the box on the ground near the cage. She removed the blanket from on top of the box and carefully reached in, removing a giant black bird.

Sonic watched curiously as Maddie placed the bird in the cage. He noticed an orange wrapping on the bird's wing.

“That's a pretty big bird. Is this cage big enough?” Tom asked.

“It's wing is broken so we don't need to worry about flying space. It mainly needs to rest right now. We'll let it out of the cage when its ready to start moving, but that probably won't be for a few days,” Maddie explained. She draped the blanket over the cage and then looked over to Tom. “Alright, no parking in the garage for a few weeks. Garage is now Raven Zone.” She headed back into the main part of the house and into the kitchen to wash her hands.

Sonic looked at Tom as Tom walked over to where he was standing by the doorway. “Is the bird going to be fine?” He asked.

Tom patted Sonic on the top of the head. “Yeah, Maddie knows what she's doing. Come on, it's my time on the television if Maddie hasn't taken control of the remote,” he said.

Sonic made a face but followed Tom to the door. Before he went inside though, he took one last look at the raven.

Over the next few days, Maddie didn't go back to the vet clinic. Instead, she worked at home as she took care of the raven. She had gotten into a routine of checking on the raven every hour or whenever she heard it make a sound.

Sonic often went along with her, though he tended to hover near the door. He wanted to see the bird and make sure it was alright, but he also didn't want to get in the way. So, most of the times he stood in the doorway.

“You wanna help with the raven?” Maddie asked as she sat next to Sonic on the couch.

Sonic paused the video game he was playing. “Wait, I can help?” He asked.

Maddie smiled. “I've noticed you seemed really interested with it and I figured it wouldn't hurt if you fed it every once in a while as long as I was with you. All you really need to do is take the small food bowl out, put in the food, and set it back in. I'll need you to watch the bird while I fill the water bowl also. Think you can do that?”

Sonic nodded his head. “Yeah! What do you need me to do first?”

Maddie pointed to the sink. “Wash hands and put on a clean pair of gloves. Remember, twenty seconds.”

Sonic nodded and darted to the sink. He took his gloves off and then turned the sink on. He hummed a song as he washed his hands, making sure that he did indeed wash them for twenty seconds, and then dried them. He then grabbed a pair of the gloves he'd seen Maddie use when she went and checked on the raven. His ears flicked when he heard Maddie turn on the sink to wash her hands. He turned to her and bounced on the balls of his feet while he waited for Maddie to finish washing her hands. The second the sink was turned off he darted to the pantry. “Okay so what do we feed a raven?” He asked.

“Well, ravens are scavengers meaning they'll eat pretty much anything they can get a hold of. However, we'll be feeding our friend some shelled peanuts and blueberries,” Maddie said. She grabbed the blueberries from the fridge. “The peanuts should be on the rack on the door,” she said.

Sonic looked at the door and grabbed the container of shelled peanuts. He shut the door and darted over to stand near Maddie. “These ones?”

Maddie looked down and nodded her head. “Yep! Let me get my gloves on and we'll be ready,” she said. She grabbed a pair of gloves and put them on before heading towards the garage door. “Now remember, we've got to be quiet and not move too fast. We don't want to spook the poor thing.”

Sonic nodded his head and followed her. As they entered the garage, Sonic peeked around Maddie to look at the bird. It sat in the cage and looked like it had just been woken up. When the bird's eyes landed on Maddie it let out a loud “Caw”.

Maddie smiled. “Yep, it's time for some food!” She said.

The second the raven noticed Sonic it let out an odd high pitched beeping sound

Maddie tilted her head. “I haven't heard that one before,” she said. She knelt down next to the cage and set the box of blueberries to the side. She waited until Sonic was knelt next to her to set her hands on the door to the birdcage. “You ready? Remember, be slow,” she said.

Sonic nodded his head. “Will the bird stay where its at?” He asked.

Maddie nodded her head. “Probably,” she said. She pointed to a small, shallow, white bowl. “That's the one for the food, the blue bowl is for the water,” she said. She then opened the door.

Sonic carefully slid his hand into the cage and grabbed the white bowl. He took it out of the cage and held it up to Maddie. “So we put the peanuts and blue berries in here?” He asked.

Maddie nodded her head and took the bowl. “Now put in about a pinch of the peanuts in here. Not a whole lot since we also need room for some of the blueberries,” she said.

Sonic proceeded to put some peanuts and blueberries into the bowl before carefully placing it back in the cage. “'Now what?” He asked.

Maddie reached in and grabbed the water bowl. “Now you're going to watch it while I go fill this bowl with water. I shouldn't be too long,” she said. She stood up and headed to the door. “Do not play with the bird. It needs to recover,” she said before she left.

“I know,” Sonic said as she left. He turned to the raven, which was tilting its head to the side staring at him. Sonic promptly tilted his head to match it. The bird tilted it's head to the other side and Sonic copied it again. The bird once again tilted it's head and Sonic once again copied it with a laugh.

The raven let out a trill.

Sonic beamed. “Did you just try to laugh?”

Suddenly, out of the corner of Sonic's eye, he noticed a branch on a tree across the yard shook. Sonic turned to look out the window. None of the other branches on any of the trees were shaking so the wind wasn't blowing. He stood up and walked towards the window. He focused on the branch that was shaking. His eyes widened as he spotted something perched up on it. He couldn't really tell what it was, but he could spot dangling just below it. Nestled close to the trunk was an orange tail with white on the tip. Sonic let out a gasp and he glanced around where he had been sitting. Unfortunately he had left his phone in the living room. He turned back to the window and the tail and figure was gone.

“What're you doing by the window?” Maddie asked as she walked back in.

Sonic turned around to face her and walked back over. “Thought I saw something. Also, I'm pretty positive this bird laughed at me,” he said.

Maddie opened the cage again and carefully placed the bowl of water into the cage. “Ravens are pretty smart birds. Odds are it was,” she said. She stood up after taking care of the cage. “Alright, now we need to wash our hands again and eat something ourselves. What would you like for lunch?” She headed back inside and towards the kitchen.

Sonic followed after her. “Oh! Could we have chili cheese fries?”

Maddie was already at the sink, washing her hands. “Of course. I'll check to see if we have fries in the freezer.”

A week and a half later, Maddie decided that the bird was active enough that it could get out of the cage and hop around. It still wasn't well enough to fly and be set free, but it did need to be able to move around. Also, the cage needed cleaned and Maddie figured she'd take care of that while the bird stretched its legs.

“So we're just going to let a raven hop around the living room?” Tom asked skeptically as he watched the raven look around.

“I need to clean the cage. It'll be fine,” she said. She set the cage down next to the sink and the cleaning supplies she had. “I trust you and Sonic to make sure it doesn't get into trouble. Ravens are smart, I'm sure you'll figure out a way to entertain it.”

Sonic peeked into the kitchen. “Ozzie's in your room,” he said.

Maddie smiled. “Go with Tom, the raven's already in the living room.”

Sonic nodded and followed after Tom. He sat down on the couch and watched as the raven hopped towards him. “Hey little buddy,” Sonic said.

The raven tilted its head and cawed at him.

“I think it says hi back,” Tom said.

Sonic smiled. He was quickly hit in the head with something. He glanced down to see a crumpled up piece of paper. He glared at Tom who had pulled out a small notepad. “What was that for?”

“Try throwing that towards the bird. Maybe you can get it to play fetch,” Tom replied.

Sonic looked at the paper ball and then tossed it.

The bird watched the piece of paper land besides it. It hopped over and picked it up before bringing it back over to Sonic.

Sonic's smile grew. “Tom, it'll play fetch!” Sonic threw the ball again and practically vibrated in his seat when the raven went to go fetch it again. “This is so cool,” Sonic whispered excitedly.

This went on for a few more minutes, before the raven carried the ball over to Tom and trilled at him. Tom looked down at it.

“Uh, hi?” Tom said.

The raven trilled, picked up the paper ball, and dropped it even closer to Tom.

Sonic laughed. “Tom, I think it wants you to play with it.”

Tom picked up the ball and tossed it. The raven followed after the ball. “Maybe it got bored of you?” Tom said with a smirk at Sonic.

Sonic stuck out his tongue. He noticed the bird was heading back over to Tom, so he decided to look out the window. It looked out to the front yard and their neighbor's house across the way. Sonic noticed something up on the roof. He leaned closer to the window. Poking out from behind the chimney were two orange and white tails. Sonic leaned further, but ended up bonking his head on the window.

“Sonic?” Tom asked as he looked up from where the raven was trying the work his watch off his wrist. He watched as Sonic rubbed at his forehead. “Are you okay?”

Sonic nodded his head. “Yeah, just hit my head on the window. Thought I saw something out there...” he said. He glanced out the window, the tails nowhere to be seen. He glanced back over to Tom and watched as the raven was trying to undo the buckle of the watch. “Uh, do you need help there?”

Tom looked down at the raven. “I think it got bored...” He lifted his arm away and held it above his head. “Also, the ball is by you,” he added.

Sonic looked down at the floor near the couch. “Oh!” He picked it up and whistled at the bird. When it looked up at him, Sonic tossed to ball in the air and then caught it again. “Wanna play?” He asked. He then threw the ball.

The raven ran after the ball.

Maddie walked in a few minutes later and smiled as she watched Sonic play with the raven. “Having fun?” She asked.

Sonic looked up and smiled back at her. “The raven likes to play fetch! Oh, and it also likes to try to steal Tom's watch,” he said.

Maddie glanced over at Tom. “I'm boring when it comes to fetch,” Tom replied with a shrug.

Maddie shook her head. “Its time to put the raven back in its cage,” she said.

Sonic let out a whine. “Really?”

Maddie nodded her head. “Yep! But we can do this again in a few days,” she said.

Sonic sighed. “One last throw?” He asked as he held his hand out to the raven.

Maddie smiled. “Sure, one last throw,” she said. She watched as Sonic threw the ball and the raven chased after it.

When the raven dropped the ball in Sonic's hand, he gently pet the raven's head. “Sorry, but you've gotta go back in the cage. We can play together another time though,” he said.

The raven trilled at him before hopping over to Maddie.

A week later, Tom and Sonic had been playing catch in the backyard before a storm blew in. Now Sonic was sitting in front of the back door, glaring at the rain with his arms folded across his chest.

“Are you just going to sit there until it stops raining?” Tom asked.

“Maybe...” Sonic said.

Tom shook his head with a smile. “Alright, I'm going to go check on the raven. If its as bad as it looks outside, there's probably going to be thunder and lightening. I don't want that thing hurting itself in fright,” he said.

Sonic nodded his head. “Okay,” he said.

Tom laughed. “You can come join me at anytime if pouting at the rain doesn't work,” he said.

“I'm not pouting!”

Tom patted Sonic's head. “Sure,” he said. He turned and headed towards the garage.

Sonic turned back to glare at the rain. Okay, so maybe he was pouting a little bit, but he was having fun playing outside and he didn't like getting wet.

He sat like that for several minutes, but it was quickly getting boring. He swayed to a song in his head, but then stopped when that was starting to get a little annoying, especially when he couldn't remember the rest of the song and repeated the verse for a tenth time. He tried laying on his side to look at things from a different angle, and then on his stomach for the same reason.

After he'd been staring out the back door and at the rain for fifteen minutes, he got up to go see what Tom was doing. That's when the first crack of lightening flashed and the thunder rolled a few seconds later.

Sonic stood there for a few seconds before he realized he had something new to play with. “What was it that Tom said the last time we had a lightening storm? Five seconds equals one mile?” Sonic stared out the window.

After the next flash of lightening Sonic started counting. “One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four Mississippi, five Mississippi, six Mississippi, seven Mississippi, eight Mississippi, nine Mississippi, ten Mississippi, eleven Missis-” Thunder interrupted his silent counting. “Sweet! That one was basically two miles away!”

Sonic did this several more times. With each flash, he would start to count and with each roll of thunder he'd do the easy math. Two miles, three miles, one mile, another two miles. He had just finished counting and was doing the math in his head when he saw something run between the trees along the edge of the yard.

Something orange and fuzzy.

Sonic jumped up onto his feet and went to open the backdoor. He stopped before he threw it open. It was raining outside and he really didn't want to get wet. However, if there was someone out there, he wanted to help them find some shelter. He knew how much it sucked to be stuck out in the rain without some place to go. Besides, it wouldn't be too long, he could simply take them to the grocery store or library and then zoom right back.

His mind made up, he pushed the back door open and went out, shutting the door behind him. Sonic ran to the edge of the yard and looked around. The figure must have been pretty quick if they couldn't be spotted anymore. Sonic decided to run in the direction he had seen them run.

He'd been running for a while before he heard something that caught his attention. Over the wind and the rain he could hear a tinkling sound, sort of like the wind chimes that Maddie had shown him in the store once. Sonic didn't remember anything making that sound in that part of the forest so he decided to check it out. When he came to the tree he thought the sound was coming from, he tried to look up. Unfortunately, he couldn't see much of anything, though he thought that he could make out some rope and something with a slight sheen to it way high up. Sonic narrowed his eyes and circled around the tree a couple times. It certainly wasn't the figure he thought he saw, but it was something curious and the sound was definitely coming from up there.

A roll of thunder echoed through the forest and he heard a yelp come from up above him. Okay, someone was definitely up there.

“Hello?” Sonic called out. He heard rustling coming from right above him, but he wasn't sure if that was due to the wind or the person. He stared up above him as he waited for a response. When none came he let out a sigh. “Alright, I'm going to come up myself!” He called out. He jumped up and grabbed the branch above him and pulled himself up into the tree. “Tom's going to kill me when I get home...” he muttered. “Leaving the house without a warning and climbing a tree in a storm. Oh, better add talking to strangers to the list too...” He reached over from a branch and pulled himself up onto a new branch. “It'd be nice if you told me how high up you were!” He called out again. He looked up above him and could see things a bit more clear now that leaves weren't blocking his view.

There halfway up the tree was a tarp hammock tied to the branches with rope and on the branches above those was another tarp tied tight. There was some extra rope tied to some of the branches near the hammock that had shiny metals tied to the strands making a few make-shift wind chimes.

Sonic's eyes widened at the sight. Whoever was up there was one: really good at climbing and two: very creative and smart. He continued on climbing up. He nearly slipped when his foot found a slick part on one of the branches. He caught himself on a branch just to his side. He carefully repositioned himself. “That was a close one,” he said. He thought he heard movement above him and he glanced up.

For a quick second he met the blue eyes of an orange anthropomorphic fox before it quickly ducked back into the hammock.

Sonic let out a small gasp. “HEY! WHO ARE YOU?” He shouted. He continued his climb up. He heard another thunder roll and another yelp from up above him. His eyes narrowed in determination. Not only was the fox up there like him, but they were also jumpy from the thunder and he really wanted to talk to them.

However, Sonic misstepped and didn't have a good enough grip on the branch he was using for support causing him to fall. He let out a choked scream as the branch he was just standing on zoomed past his vision.

Above him the fox dropped out of the hammock and weaved through the branches as if it was flying. It reached for his hands and caught him before he hit any of the branches below him. The fox carefully settled him on the ground.

Sonic and the fox looked at each other in silence for what felt like hours to Sonic, but was only just a few minutes. Sonic looked the fox over. It was orange, had two twin tails (That it used to fly! Holy cow this fox could fly!), a white fuzzy muzzle, two bright blue eyes, what appeared to be some bangs, and two big ears that twitched as the rain fell on them. It wore a pair of gloves and a pair of red and white shoes.

The silence was broken as thunder rolled over them and the fox flinched.

Sonic quickly stood up. “Hey, when I was counting earlier, the closest lightening strike was a mile away and the storm has been moving, you should be fine,” he said.

The fox looked up at him. It's two tails flicked nervously.

Sonic offered the fox a smile. “Let's get someplace that's warm and dry and safe from lightening alright. Oh! I'm Sonic by the way!” He held his hand out in greeting.

The fox's eyes flicked down to Sonic' hand and then right back up to meet his eyes. “I know who you are,” the fox said.

Sonic's eyes widened a bit and the pieces fell into place. “Hey! You're the one who I've spotted several times over the last couple months!”

The fox blushed and looked away. “I was just making sure you were safe...and then that the raven was safe...”

Sonic tilted his head. “You know about the raven?” He shook his head and then took the fox's hand. “Look, we can talk in a little bit. I'm soaked through and you can't be any better,” he said. Another roll of thunder boomed and the fox once again flinched. “And there's that too. Come on, I've got a place we can go.” He began leading the fox back to the house. “What's your name anyways?”

The fox sighed. “My name's Miles Prower,” he said.

Sonic looked back at Miles. “Well Miles, its nice to meet you!” Sonic said. He offered Miles a smile. When Miles didn't offer him one back he turned back to facing forward. They walked in silence the rest of the walk back.

When they got to the back door, Sonic pushed it open. “Wipe your shoes on the floor mat, I'll go find us some towels,” he said.

Miles nodded his head and proceeded to wipe his shoes on the floor mat.

Sonic quickly darted to the kitchen but as he entered the bathroom to grab a couple of towels off the shelf he heard Tom clear his throat from the doorway. “'Tom!” Sonic yelped as he turned to face Tom.

“Would you care to explain where you had run off to in the middle of this weather and why your covered in mud and tree bark?”

Sonic opened his mouth to answer, but there was a sound from the kitchen. Sonic let out a nervous laugh as he grabbed the towels he was reaching for. “Gotta go!” He said as he zoomed past Tom.

Sonic found Miles sitting on the floor of the kitchen. Miles was rubbing his right elbow. Sonic knelt next to Miles and wrapped a towel around the fox. “What did you do?” Sonic asked.

“Accidentally hit my elbow against a counter,” Miles muttered. He motioned with his head towards Ozzie. “That spooked me...”

Sonic looked over at Ozzie. “Ozzie shoo,” he said.

Ozzie let out a bark and bounced on his feet in a playful manner.

“Ozzie, shush, you're going to alert Tom,” Sonic whispered.

“Oh, I'm already alerted and I'd like to know what in the world is going on,” Tom said. He was leaning against the wall near the hallway. Tom pushed away from the wall and walked over.

Miles ducked behind Sonic and Sonic stood his ground, knowing Tom was probably more worried than angry. “I saw someone running in the forest so I decided to go check on them. Turns out it was Miles. Oh, his name's Miles by the way. Miles, this is Tom,” Sonic said.

Tom knelt in front of Sonic and let out a sigh. “First, you can't just go following strangers. If you're worried about someone you need to come find me. I'm an adult and I'm a police man, that is kind of my job. Second, can you please explain what Miles is doing here?”

Sonic scoffed. “He's here because its raining outside and I didn't want him to get drenched! Duh!”

Tom rested a hand on his face. “Not what I meant, but okay...”

Miles stepped out from behind Sonic. “I came here to make sure Sonic was safe,” he said timidly. He took a deep breath. “There was a huge power ping here about six months ago and then one in the Mushroom Hill Zone not long after. My workshop was invaded by the Echidna and they wanted to figure out the readings their emerald was giving off-” he was interrupted before he could explain any further.

“You're working with the Echidna?” Sonic exclaimed.

Miles flinched and then glared at Sonic. “Not anymore and not willingly! Did you not get the phrasing there?”

Tom put his hands up. “Hey! I have no clue what's going on here, but let's let Miles finish his explanation before we start throwing around accusations...” he said.

Miles took a deep breath to calm himself. “I was told to help them figure out the readings coming from their emerald. I built a scanner that helped me figure out where the sources of the reading were and like I stated, the first and most powerful one came from here and the second was a smaller one that came from Mushroom Hill. With the help of someone else I came up with a plan to keep the Echidna away from the source of the pings. I sent them to Mushroom Hill. I knew it couldn't be the right location because it was so small and I came here with the task to keep Sonic safe.”

Tom let out a sigh. “So do you have a place to stay or...”

Sonic smiled. “You could stay with us! I'm willing to share my room!” Sonic took Miles' hands excitedly. “Oh! Tom we should show Miles the Raven! He's been spying on us making sure it was safe!”

Tom tilted his head. “He knows about the raven?”

Miles nodded his head. “I was the one who found it hurt and brought it over,” he explained.

Sonic beamed. “It'll be excited to see you then!” He led Miles towards the garage. He headed towards the cage.

The raven looked up and when it caught sight of Miles it let out a couple caws and then a trill.

Miles waved to the bird and rushed over the kneel next to the cage. “How's its wing?” He asked.

Sonic sat down next to Miles. “Maddie says he's still has a couple of weeks before the splint can come off and then another week after that to make sure everything is all good and he gets used to flying again. Then he can be released,” Sonic explained.

“I've been awfully worried about it. It's family is doing well though and the little ones are almost ready to fly,” Miles said.

Sonic smiled. “You've been checking up on its family?”

Miles nodded his head. “Yeah, their nest isn't too far from my tree,” he said.

Sonic frowned. “You know, you don't have to go back to living alone. I'm sure Tom and Maddie would be fine with you staying with us. I'm willing to share my room too,” Sonic said.

Miles glanced over at Sonic and then back behind him where Tom was leaning in the doorway messing on his phone. “I don't know...” he said. His ears drooped.

Sonic smiled. “It's much better than living on your own. Besides, wouldn't it be easier to make sure I was safe if you lived here?”

Miles's ears perked up at that. “It would, but I don't want to-”

Tom looked up from his phone. “Maddie says you're staying. She refuses to let you live in the forest alone.”

Sonic beamed and a small smile came across Miles' face. “Come on! I'll show you to our room!” Sonic jumped up and pulled Miles' to his feet.


	3. In Which Miles Gets Used to Everyone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I refuse to go over 4 chapters so have this long chapter. Happy Birthday!

Miles was surprised how quickly the family had taken him in. When Maddie arrived home that evening, she quickly started asking questions, not interrogation questions, but questions like “What's your favorite food?” or “What do you like to do for fun?”.

Miles had shrugged at the first question and had answered “Science and inventing” for the last one. He then helped her gather blankets and set up the couch for him to sleep on that night.

The next morning, when everything was dry, Tom had Miles and Sonic show him where Miles had been staying. Tom squinted up as high as he could, barely making out the tarps and make-shift wind chimes. “You lived all the way up there?”

Miles nodded his head.

“How in the world did you get up there?” Tom questioned.

Sonic smiled. “Oh! He can fly! He's super fast too!” Sonic said.

Tom looked down at Miles. “That so?”

Miles nodded again.

Tom hummed as he looked back up at the tree. “Well, I'm not sure I can climb all the way up there, but if you get one of those tarps down, Sonic and I can hold it tight and use it to catch the rest of your stuff as you throw it down,” he said.

Miles shook his head. “That won't be needed. All I have is a bag with my scanner, some paper and a pencil, and some food, and the shiny trinkets the raven and its family has brought me,” he said. He stepped forward and then flew into the air. He flew towards the trees and weaved between the branches. The hammock swayed when he lifted himself into it. He climbed onto one of the branches holding up the hammock and started untying the rope holding up the tarp above the hammock. He tossed the rope into the hammock before moving to the other side. When he was done untying the other side he folded up the first tarp and draped it across the branch. He then went around untying all the make-shift wind chimes. He tucked the rope and the wind chimes into the pull string back pack. He pulled the bag on and then untied the tarp making the hammock.

When he was done he flew back down to where Tom and Sonic were waiting for him with the tarps and last couple ropes in his hands. Tom was leaning against one of the neighboring trees and Sonic was telling Tom about how he met Miles.

“I slipped and then Miles jumped and flew down and caught me! I mean, I'm still the fastest thing alive, but Miles is pretty quick too!” Sonic said.

“I'm back,” Miles said.

Sonic turned and smiled, though it fell when he saw how little Miles had. “Wow, you really don't have a lot,” he said.

Miles shrugged. “Its kinda hard to have a lot of stuff when you're living in a hammock...”

Tom let out a sigh. “Come on, let's go home and sort through your stuff,”he said. He started leading the two home.

That had been a couple of days ago. In that time, Maddie and Tom had went and bought him an actual hammock and hung it up in the rafters of Sonic's room, as Miles had asked. He didn't want to take up too much space and the rafters weren't being used except for some lights and a tire swing. Maddie had also bought him a new bag that wasn't from the trash and falling apart. Miles liked it a lot. It hung off of one shoulder and he could easily get into it when he was flying.

Right now, that bag was draped across him and he was sneaking into the kitchen to get to the blueberries he had seen Maddie feeding to the raven. He had a small ziplock bag that he had already stashed some peanuts in. He was careful as he opened the box the blueberries were in. If he made too much noise he would wake someone up or alert them if they were already awake. He dropped a small handful of blueberries into the ziplock bag and tucked it into his bag. He then looked around and left through the backdoor.

He flew to the tree where he had been staying. There three ravens, one big and two who looked like they had just gotten the handle to flying, were waiting for him. The big one trilled when he landed on a branch a couple of branches away.

“Yep, I moved,” he said. He dug in his bag and pulled out the ziplock bag. “I didn't bring a bagel, but I've been told ravens like these better than bagels anyways.” He poured some of the mix into his palm and held it out to the birds. The birds picked at the peanuts and blueberries as Miles sat there. “Your partner is getting better. Maddie says they should be getting their splint off by the end of this week and that within the week they should be able to be released. She just has to make sure they can fly,” Miles added.

The big raven made a happy knocking sound in response.

Miles smiled as he poured the rest of the mix into his hand. The rest of the time was spent in silence as he watched the birds eat. When the birds finished, Miles shook the crumbs off his hands and then got up. “Well, I better get going before someone notices I was gone,” he said. He dropped from the branch and flew back home, entering into the attic through the skylight.

Later that day, Sonic and Miles were sitting on the couch in the living room. Sonic was trying to show Miles how to play on the Wii that Tom had dug out. Miles, however was more focused on figuring out the motion sensors than the actual game they had on.

The garage door opened and Maddie peeked her head in. “Okay guys, its cage cleaning day! Sonic go put Ozzie in the bedroom, Miles could you put anything on the living room floor on a shelf or the table?” she asked.

Sonic and Miles both set down the controllers and set off to do what Maddie had asked. Miles gathered some of the books and dog toys up and set them where they belonged. He looked up when Sonic zipped in.

“Alright Maddie, we're ready!” Sonic called out.

Maddie walked in. She set the cage on the floor before opening it and letting the raven come out. When the raven exited, it quickly hopped over to Miles and Sonic and cawed at them.

“Yeah, I'll see if I can find something to play with,” Miles said.

Sonic glanced over at Miles. “Can you really understand the bird?” He asked.

Miles blushed slightly. “No, but its not really hard to try to figure it out. Most of the time, they want food,” he said. He cracked a small smile. He looked around and found a crumpled up paper ball that looked like it had been used in a game of fetch with the bird a time or two. He picked it up and sat down on the ground. “You ready?”

The raven hopped around Miles and cawed.

Miles sighed. “I don't have food, you'll have to wait until Maddie is done,” he said.

The raven cawed again and then bit down Miles' tail.

Miles let out a yelp before glaring at the raven. “Excuse me, you'll just have to wait,” he said.

The raven just sat there with Miles' tail in its beak.

Sonic let out a laugh. He sat down across the ways from Miles.

Miles' other tail flicked behind him. The raven watched it and let go of his tail, only to bite down on the other.

Miles just sighed. “Are you entertained?” He asked.

Sonic started laughing really hard. “Yeah, I think its pretty entertained. So am I,” he said. Sonic let out a small gasp. “I've got it!”

Miles titled his head and looked at Sonic confused. “What?”

Sonic beamed. “I've figured out your nickname!”

“My nickname?” Miles asked.

“Yeah, like how Tom is Donut Lord and Maddie is Pretzel Lady!” Sonic said. He excitedly tapped on his legs. “Your nickname can be Tails!”

Miles snorted. “Call me that and I'm dropping you off the roof,” he said, though there was small smile there.

Sonic tipped backwards laughing.

Maddie walked in and saw Sonic laying on the ground laughing and the raven biting Miles' tails with Miles glaring at it. She smiled as she tried not to join the laughter. “Looks like someone's hungry,” she said. She walked back into the kitchen and came back with the food bowl filled with peanuts and blueberries. She whistled to get the birds attention. “Look what I've got,” she said.

The raven dropped Miles' tail and took the blueberry. It hopped over to the food and started eating.

Maddie smiled. “Alright, you two can go back to playing if you'd like. Remember to wash your hands!”

Miles stood up. “Okay!”

Sonic rolled so he could sit and stand. “Yes Pretzel Lady!”

Maddie shook her head with a smirk. “I mean it Sonic!”

Sonic darted to the kitchen. “I will!”

Miles followed after Sonic to the kitchen. He hopped onto the stool so he could reach the sink. “Why?” He asked.

Sonic leaned against the counter. “Why what?”

“Why the nicknames?”

“Well, I didn't know Tom or Maddie's names at first but I really wanted them to stand out from some of the other people in this town. They're special,” he said.

Miles' eyes widened. “Oh,” he said. He focused really hard on the soap foaming around his hands. “You know I was just joking about dropping you off the roof right? You...you can call me Tails if you'd like.”

Sonic smiled up at him. “I saw the smile you made when threatening me. Also, I'm willing to take my chances with being dropped off a roof.”

Miles grabbed a hand towel as he hopped off the stool and dried his hands. He smiled up at Sonic. “I'll hold you up to that,” he said. He laughed when Sonic flicked water at him.

A couple of days later, Miles found Maddie out in the yard. She was kneeling by a garden next to the fence in the front yard. He wandered over.

Maddie looked up when she saw him approach. “Oh hey Miles, what are you up to?” She asked.

Miles dug in his bag and pulled out the Superman comic book Sonic had found him at the library. “I think I'm going to read out here. Sonic suggested Superman because while a lot of superheroes can fly, Superman is a classic and a good place to start reading superhero comics...according to him. What are you doing?”

Maddie smiled and held up the trowel she was using in her gloved hands. “Oh, just weeding the garden,” she said.

Miles smiled. He tucked the comic book back into the bag and set it on the ground. “Can I help?” He ran over to kneel next to Maddie.

Maddie looked at him in surprise. “What about your comic?” She asked.

Miles shrugged. “Superman can wait. Now, I don't know a whole lot about this planet's flora, so which plants do you want me to pull up and which ones do you want me to leave alone?”

Maddie chuckled. “Well, it can be hard to tell sometimes,” she said. She picked up a dandelion she had dug out. “This one is called a dandelion. I don't mind them in the yard, but I don't really like them in my gardens since they take the water and nutrients meant for the plants that I want growing. You dig these out and I'll get the ones that can be a little harder to tell okay. Make sure to get the entire root, or the dandelion will grow back.”

Miles nodded his head. “Okay!” He got to work. He made sure he kept the example dandelion Maddie had shown him nearby so he could look at it for reference. “Are dandelions edible?” He asked.

Maddie nodded her head. “If I remember correctly the whole plant is, but don't quote me on that and do more research before eating random plants. I do know that you can eat the leaves, though they do taste bitter. However, I read there's a way of cooking them so they're not as bitter, but I haven't tried it myself,” she said.

Miles hummed in response. His eyes landed on a pink flower with yellow in the center. “Woah,” he whispered.

Maddie looked up and smiled. “Which one has your attention?” she asked.

Miles carefully pointed at the flower. “What's this one called?” He asked.

Maddie leaned over to get a better view of the flower he was pointing at. “Oh! That's a cosmo. I've got several in this part of my garden. They're one of my favorites.”

Mile smiled small. “I think its very pretty,” he said. He glanced over at Maddie. “Could you tell me more about the plants here?” He asked.

Maddie smiled. “Of course,” she said. She started pointing out flowers to him. She pointed out tulips and daisies and poppies. She was more than happy to teach Miles what she knew about each plant when he asked her questions.

About an hour later Sonic stuck his head out the front door. “Maddie have you seen- Oh! There you are Tails!” Sonic zipped over. “What are you two doing?”

Miles smiled. “Maddie is teaching me about flowers!”

Sonic returned the smile. “Oh! Are you having fun?”

Miles nodded his head. “You wanna see my favorite! It's called a cosmo! It's also Maddie's favorite!”

Sonic sat down besides them, letting Miles tell him everything he had learned.

The next day, Maddie had taken Sonic shopping, so it was just Miles, Tom, and Ozzie at the house for the next couple hours. Tom was on the couch with Ozzie draped across his lap watching something on the television and Miles was curled up in the nearby chair with the Superman comic book.

Ozzie made a sound as he slid off the couch. He trotted over to his toy bin and started digging through it.

“Ever the most graceful buddy,” Tom said.

Miles laughed but grew bashful when Tom glanced his way.

Ozzie found the ball he was looking for and then walked over and dropped it at the bottom of the chair Miles was sitting in. He gave a lazy boof.

Miles glanced at the dog and then down at the ball. “You want me to throw it?”

Tom looked over. “Ozzie, that's one of your outside balls,” he said.

Miles closed the comic and reached down to get the ball. “Alright, lets go,” he said. He got up off the chair and headed to the backdoor.

Tom got up off the couch and followed him to the door. “Alright, looks like we're all getting some fresh air,” he said.

Miles glanced back at him. “You're coming too? But what about your show?”

Tom offered him a smile. “Its a rerun, I've already seen that episode,” he said.

Miles shrugged and left it at that. He opened the back door and watched as Ozzie ran out into the yard and started rolling around in the dirt. He stepped out and hesitated.

Tom stepped out and shut the door. “You okay there?” He asked.

Miles glanced up. “So I just throw it?” He asked.

Tom tilted his head. “You've never played fetch with a dog?”

Miles shook his head.

Tom offered the kid a smile. “Alright, first you need to get Ozzie's attention. Like this.” Tom whistled and Ozzie quickly scrambled to his feet, his tail wagging fast. “Now, that Ozzie is watching us, throw the ball.”

Miles threw the ball towards Ozzie. It didn't quiet make it towards Ozzie, but Ozzie ran towards the ball and picked it up before bring it back over. Miles picked the ball back up and looked back at Tom. “Like that?”

Tom gave him a thumbs up. “Exactly like that. There you go, you've learned how to play fetch.”

Miles continued tossing the ball and watched as Ozzie ran after it. After he got the hang of it, he paused. His eyes squinted.

Tom glanced up from his phone. “What's up?” He asked.

Miles jumped and blinked a couple times. “Huh?”

Tom looked the kid over. “You got really silent and you were staring off into space with a determined look...”

Miles' tail waved behind him bashfully. “Oh, uh, math?”

Tom looked at him confused. “Math?”

Miles nodded. “I was calculating the best way for me to throw the ball so Ozzie can catch it in his mouth. He gets excited when we've been able to manage it, but that's only been twice. So I'm trying to figure out what would be the best angle to throw it and how far or short that angle would make the ball go. Then I also need to take in Ozzie's speed. I've noticed that I usually can throw it faster than Ozzie can run, until it goes further than halfway across the yard, at that point Ozzie seems to catch up with it. Then I also need to calculate strength into the equation. How hard I throw the ball is one of the leading factors to how far the ball goes...” he trailed off. “I'm sorry...”

Tom raised an eyebrow. “What for?”

Miles rubbed the back of his head. “I'm rambling again. Most people I knew weren't thrilled when I went on my tangents. Its why I tended to stay at my workshop...”

Tom offered Miles a smile. “Hey, none of us here are going to be upset with you if you want to talk math or science or whatever is on your mind. Maddie's the smarter one out of me and her but I did pass all of my math classes throughout high school and college so I should be able to follow along. But seriously, anytime you need to talk we're willing to lend an ear,” he said.

Miles grew a bit timid. “What about Sonic?”

Tom's smile grew. “Being able to fly and being a genius? Sonic's going think you're super cool.”

Miles smiled. He turned back to Ozzie and held the ball up. He narrowed his eyes in thought. A few seconds later, he threw the ball. Ozzie caught it in mid air. “Yes!” Miles said.

Sonic pushed open the backdoor. “Tails! That was so cool! Did you see how Ozzie caught that!”

Miles jumped and then laughed. “Hey Sonic! How was shopping?”

“It went great. Oh! I found these mint candies that are really good! You should come try some!” Sonic said. He grabbed Miles' hand and pulled him back inside. “Maddie! Where did those candies go? Miles needs to try one!”

A few days later, Miles had noticed he was becoming antsy. It first started when he had snapped at Sonic for calling him Tails that morning. Seeing Sonic flinch the way he had was enough for Miles to immediately start apologizing.

It didn't take long for Miles to figure out what was wrong. How long was it since he had crafted something? Sure, he had made the make-shift wind chimes while living in the tree and he could probably recreate them if he wanted to, but he wasn't sure if Sonic wanted them hanging from the ceiling or not.

Crafting and inventing helped Miles sort through his thoughts and relaxed him when he was stressed. Plus, it was fun. However, there wasn't really anything he could craft here. Maybe, he could help with something around the house.

Miles took a deep breath and dropped down from his hammock. He rushed downstairs and glanced around. “Maddie? Tom? Sonic?” He called out.

“Living room!” He heard Tom respond.

Miles headed to the living room and peeked in. He saw Tom sitting on the couch, however he couldn't spot Maddie or Sonic. “'Where are the others?” He asked.

“Maddie's at the vet with the raven. Its getting the splint off today and we don't have the stuff here I guess. Sonic went to play some baseball with the neighborhood kids. He would have liked to invite you too, but he said you were upset and it'd be best to let you be at the time,” Tom explained.

Miles looked to the side, ashamed he had upset Sonic that much. “Oh...” he said.

Tom let out a sigh and turned down the volume of the show he was watching. He then patted the couch next to him. “You wanna talk and we can figure out together what's bugging you? If it's Sonic's nickname, we can ask him to stop,” he said.

Miles let out a sigh and sat down by Tom. “No, I actually don't mind the nickname...” he said.

“So what's up?” Tom asked.

Miles shrugged. “I've just been antsy. Since I've been on this planet I haven't created much and I guess its bothering me. I know its not a good reason to be a grouch...” he explained.

Tom laughed. “Have you seen how frustrated Sonic gets when we won't let him run at top speed? We all have things we like to do. So, what do you feel like you need to do? What do you like to make?”

Miles smiled small. “You know that scanner I have?”

Tom nodded.

“Usually, that's along the lines of things I create. I also once created a robot to help me around my workshop, but it stopped working after about a month because it got caught in the rain. But I understand if you don't want me going around and creating stuff like that. I also don't really have the resources to make that type of stuff, though I don't usually let my lack of resources bother me...”

Tom hummed as he thought for a second. “You know what. I think I have an idea. Its not quiet as high tech as your scanner. Actually, its no where near as high tech, but here on Earth, a lot of people like to create all sorts of neat things with my idea...” he said. He stood up off the couch. “Now just to see if we have any laying around the house or if we'll have to go shopping...” Tom headed towards his and Maddie's room.

Miles pushed off the couch and followed after. “Any what?” He stood in the doorway of the room as Tom dug in the closet. He watched as Tom started pulling a big black box out of the closet.

“Sweet! Can't believe these have been in here this entire time,” Tom said.

Miles walked over and peered into the box. It was filled nearly to the top with a bunch of colorful blocks of all shapes and sizes. “What are those?”

Tom smiled. “Legos! I was obsessed with these when I was younger. They're basically blocks you can build about anything with. Here, lets drag this out into the dining room and I'll pull up some videos with examples of what you can make out these...”

They got the box to the dining room and Tom pulled out his laptop and quickly brought up some videos. “'Now, I don't think I have any of the fancy equipment to make the really cool stuff but we could start off with something like a house or a tree or a-” he was interrupted when Miles pointed at a video.

“I want to make that!” Miles said.

Tom looked at the video Miles was pointing at. “What in the world is a Burr Puzzle?”

Miles shrugged. “I don't know, but if its like what's on the picture it could be fun! Can we give it a try?”

Tom smiled. “Sure, why not?” He clicked on the video and they started watching the video.

They followed along, Tom digging out the correct style of bricks and panels and Miles carefully putting them together. They'd pause every now and then but after twenty minutes or so they had what appeared to be two “C”s and an “O”.

“Now how did the guy put the puzzle together?” Tom muttered. He leaned back in his chair as he stared the pieces down.

Miles grabbed the “O” and a “C”. “I think you take the big part of the 'O' and put it on the top and loop the first 'C' onto that and the 'O' to the side. Then you take the other 'C' and lay it on its side so its surrounding the top of the 'O' and is touching the top of the other 'C'. Then push the side and the bottom of the 'O' so it pops out a little bit. See!” He went through the actions as he explained, holding it out to Tom when he was done.

Tom was impressed. “You figured that out?”

Miles shrugged. “The guy on the video showed how to do it at least twice. Besides, it doesn't look like it would be too difficult to figure out,” he said.

That's when the front door opened. Tom stood up to go see who it was. “Oh! Hey Sonic, how was baseball?”

“Pretty good. I was worried about Miles the entire time though so I was kinda distracted. The team I was on still won though! No cheating even!” Sonic responded. He peeked into the dining room and caught sight of Miles. Sonic smiled and waved. “Hey Miles!”

Miles smiled and waved. “Hi Sonic! OH! Come look at what Tom and I made! It's called a Burr Puzzle!” He rushed over to Sonic, carefully holding the Lego puzzle in his hands. “Oh! You should see if you can undo the puzzle! There's three parts, two 'C's and an 'O' piece!”

Sonic's smile grew when he realized that Miles was no longer frustrated. “A puzzle you say? Alright, I'll give it a go,” he said. He took the puzzle from Miles when he handed it over.

They proceeded to sit right there in the dining room entrance as Sonic tried to figure out the puzzle with Miles giggling when Sonic made a comment on how confused he was.

Over the next few days, Miles helped Maddie take care of the raven now that the splint was off. He helped feed the bird and watched it as it got used to flying again. Soon though, it was time to release the bird.

Maddie, Miles, and Sonic were gathered by the tree Miles had stayed in. “Okay little guy, its time to set you free,” Maddie said as she opened up the cage and let the raven come out.

The raven flapped its wings once it was free. It turned to them and let out a loud caw.

Maddie waved. “Your welcome,” she said.

Sonic smiled. “Go have fun okay!”

Miles wiped at his eyes, trying to hide the tears that were starting to well up. “Your family is waiting for you okay.”

The raven hopped over to Miles. It trill up at him.

Miles offered a smile. “I'll be fine,” he told the bird.

The raven made a beeping noise and Miles laughed. With that the raven quickly flew off into the sky. Up above them was the sound of shaking branches and the three of them looked up to see three more ravens join the one. The four birds flew into the woods.

Maddie set her hand on Miles' shoulder. “You've made quite the group of friends,” she said.

Miles gave her a small smile.

“Well, its time to head back home, Tom should be home soon and maybe we can watch a movie,” Maddie said. She offered a hand to Miles and smiled when he took it.

Miles was silent the entire walk back to the car and the entire drive home. When they got home, he quickly darted up to the attic. He felt tears streaming down his face as he jumped and flew into his hammock. He pulled a big blanket over himself to cover the his sobs.

Miles woke from a small doze to the sound of the ladder dropping. His ears twitched as he tried to figure out who it was by the footsteps. Light and quick. If Miles was going to guess, it was Sonic.

“Tails? Miles? You in here buddy?” Sonic quietly called out, or at least quiet for Sonic. So he was right with the guess.

Miles rolled over in his hammock. “Here,” he muttered. He peeked over the edge.

Sonic looked up. “You look rough,” he said. He walked over and looked in the area under the hammock before looking back up. “Can I come up?”

Miles nodded his head. He sat up and crawled over to the wall. He dropped a rope against the wall. “Use this and the wall to climb up. I'll help,” he said.

Sonic nodded his head. He grabbed onto the rope and pressed his feet against the wall. He started climbing “We might need to find a better system, I'm certain Tom would freak out if he saw what we were doing,” he said. He looked back to see the corner of Miles' mouth point up.

“You keep doing that and you'll fall,” Miles said.

Sonic looked towards the wall again and started climbing again. He got to the top of the rope. “Now what?”

Miles reached down and grabbed Sonic. He pulled Sonic into the hammock, causing it to sway slightly.

Sonic glanced around. “Nice view,” he said. He turned back to Miles. “You doing alright?” He asked.

Miles shrugged. “I'm kinda sad the raven had to leave, but I understand why. He's a wild animal and he has a family. We couldn't keep him, but...I'm going to miss him,” he said.

Sonic smiled. “Well, Maddie said that ravens are some of the smartest birds and have excellent memory. She's said that ravens will make a connection with people and visit and leave gifts to the people they like. I'd trust Maddie on this one, she's the animal expert!”

Miles blinked and his ears pointed up. “Wait? They'll give you gifts if they really like you? And they'll visit you?”

Sonic nodded and then shrugged. “Well, that's what Maddie says,” he said.

Miles reached for the drawstring bag he kept. It was hanging from a nail poking out of one of the rafters. It was were he had kept all the shinies and rope. “Gifts like these? Both adult ravens left me them,” he said as he pulled out some of the shinies.

Sonic gasped at the small gifts Miles had been gifted. “Look at those gifts! You got all of those from the ravens?”

Miles nodded his head. “Yeah,” he paused and then looked up at Sonic with stars in his eyes. “Do you think that since the raven knows where this house is, it'll start leaving gifts for all of us?”

Sonic smiled. “See, we certainly haven't seen the last of it!” He bumped Miles' shoulder with his. “So, feeling better?”

Miles nodded his head. “Yeah. Sorry about that,” he said.

Sonic shrugged. “No need. It hurts not knowing if you'll see someone again,” he said. He then glanced down at the floor. “So, how do I get down?”

Miles glanced down at the floor also. “I'm not sure?”

Sonic sighed. “I didn't really think this through...”

Miles laughed. “I could drop you,” he said.

“Absolutely not.”

The next day, Tom and Sonic had decided to go shopping. Tom had seen a few Lego sets that he thought Miles would like and wanted Sonic to come help him pick a couple. So Maddie and Miles were home alone.

Maddie peeking in the living room from the kitchen. “You feeling up to a craft?” She asked.

Miles looked up from his notebook. There were some small sketches and equations on it. “Sure!” He said. He set the notebook down on the couch and followed her to the table. There on the table were a few pine cones, a bowl full of peanut butter, and a bowl full of seeds and dried fruit pieces. There was string and some scissors too. “What are we making?” He asked.

“Sonic mentioned that you were worried about the raven and its family not visiting. I had an idea that might tempt them and maybe some other birds,” Maddie said. She sat down in a chair and patted the one next to her. “I'll show you.”

Miles walked over and sat next to her, eyeing the items on the table and trying to piece it together. He sat down next to her. “So what do we do?” He asked.

Maddie smiled. “Well, you grab a pine cone and then cut about a foot of string. Tie one end of the string onto the top part of the pine cone,” she explained. She grabbed a pine cone and then cut herself a piece of string, tying it to show Miles what she meant.

Miles focused on her and copied what he was shown. “Now what?”

“Now you roll the pine cone into the peanut butter. It'll get a little messy so don't worry if you get some peanut butter on the table. It'll be easy to clean up,” she said. She rolled her pine cone in the peanut butter. “As soon as you've done that, dip it into the seeds and fruit mix and roll it around. You'll want to get it as coated in the mix as you can because that means more food for the birds.”

Miles nodded his head and coated his pine cone in the peanut butter and then the seed and fruit mix. He looked up at Maddie. “And we're done?” He asked.

Maddie nodded her head. “Besides hanging them up outside, yeah. I've got a few more pine cones here and plenty of peanut butter and mix here if you want to make more,” she said.

Miles smiled. “Yeah! Let's make more!” He grabbed another pine cone and started crafting another.

About a half hour later, they had made about ten bird feeders between the two of them. Miles was ready to hang them up. After cleaning up he and Maddie carefully took the bird feeders outside.

Maddie led him to a tree in their backyard. “Alright, now we tie them to the branches and wait for birds to visit,” she said. She reached down to grab a bird feeder off the paper plate they had set them on. She tied it to the branch directly in front of her.

Miles grabbed one and titled his head as he tried to find the best branch for it. He jumped and flew up to a branch that was just out of reach. He carefully tied the feeder onto the branch.

Maddie smiled. “Nice spot! There's a branch a little higher and to the left that looks like a great spot!” She passed one up to Miles.

Miles found the branch she was talking about. He reached it and tied the feeder to it. “Like this?” He asked.

Maddie nodded. “Perfect!”

Soon they were finished hanging up the bird feeders. “Now we sit inside and we can check through the back door every now and then,” Maddie said. She laughed. “'Looks like we'll need to wash our hands again,” she said.

Miles laughed. “Peanut butter gets everywhere!”

They walked inside and washed their hands. They then sat on the couch and watched a cartoon Sonic had shown Miles a couple days ago about a pair of inventive siblings.

The door swung open near the end of the episode. “Maddie!” Tom called out. The sound of Sonic's laughter filled the house.

Maddie looked back over the couch. Tom was still standing in the doorway with a bag in his hand. She watched as Sonic pushed past him with an excited look in his eyes. “Yes Dear?” She asked.

“There are like twenty birds in the back yard! Would you care to explain what is going on?” Tom said.

Tails let out a gasp and rushed to go look out the back door. Sonic was by his side in seconds.

Maddie smiled. “Oh, Miles and I made bird feeders out of pine cones,” she said.

“Maddie, there are like twenty birds!”

Tails bounced where he stood. “The raven's back and so is its family! They're all here! Look! Maddie, what are those blue ones and what about those small brown and black ones!”

Maddie walked over to Tom and kissed his cheek. “Worth it,” she said. She grabbed a bird book of the bookshelf and headed over to the back door. She looked out the back door. “Looks like the blue birds are most likely blue jays and the small brown and black ones are sparrows.” She leaned against the wall and pointed out a few more birds out in the yard.

Tom shook his head, though a smile was growing on his face. He came over and looked out the back window. “Did you have fun kiddo?” He asked.

Miles beamed up at Tom. “Yeah!”

Tom lifted the bag he had. “Looks like we're having too much fun, better leave my gift for later,” he said.

Miles looked at the bag. “No wait! What did you get?” He asked.

Tom pulled out two Lego sets. “I figured you'd like your own sets to build, so I had Sonic help me pick out a couple. Maybe you and Sonic could build one on the table later,” he said.

Miles eyes started to water. He quickly rubbed at them.

Tom knelt down to Miles' level. “Miles? Hey you okay bud?” He asked worriedly.

Miles nodded. “Yeah..its just...you're all so nice to me,” he said.

Sonic set his hand on Miles' shoulder. “Well yeah, why wouldn't we be?”

Miles shrugged. “I don't know, I did kind of invade in on your lives,” he said.

Tom smiled small. “That's kinda how we do things here.”

Maddie knelt down too. “We like having you here in our family. Its a little odd of a family, but most families are a little odd,” she said.

Miles glanced up at her. “I'm a part of the family?” He asked.

Tom nodded his head. “If you'd like to be,” he added.

Miles's smile grew. “Of...of course!”

Sonic quickly scooped Miles up into a hug. “I've got a little brother!”

Miles laughed as Sonic spun him around. His two tails waved happily. “And I have a family!”

When Sonic set Miles on the ground, Maddie opened her arms. “Can I hug you?” She asked. When Miles nodded his head, she wrapped him in a hug.

Miles hummed and leaned against her. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. How long had it been since he was last hugged? Miles felt another person join the hug and he opened his eyes to see Tom on the other side. He then felt Sonic wiggle his way into the hug. Miles giggled.

“Welcome to the family!” Sonic said.


	4. In Which Sonic Notices Miles Has an Army

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My brain went on Vacay so if this chapter is bad, OH WELL!

Sonic suspected he was the first to notice.

Sonic was taking Miles out to the baseball diamond to meet his friends and maybe play some baseball too, if Miles wanted to anyways. If Miles didn't want to play baseball that was cool too, they could just hang out on the bleachers and talk. Sonic didn't want to overwhelm him with so much at once, this was Miles' first time interacting with people other than their family. Miles was looking nervous enough as it was.

“Don't worry, they'll all think you're cool,” Sonic told Miles as they turned a corner. On the top of the lightpost, he a noticed a raven. He was pretty sure he recognized that raven. The fact that he could tell which raven it was was kinda weird.

Miles held onto the strap of his bag and rubbed his thumb against the edge of the strap, a nervous habit Sonic had picked up on. “And you're sure of this?” He asked.

Sonic nodded his head. “Yeah! Grace is really nice to everyone! Luke likes to make sure everyone is involved and having fun and Ethan, while shy, likes to make others smile. Also, trust me, as soon as he opens up to you, he's hilarious. Then there's Elias, he's kinda loud at first, but I also feel like you and him could get a long quite well. He's also into robots and science! Also, maybe Elias convinced his sister Abbie to come along! And if Abbie's there then Sophie could be there and we should get them to sing!”

Miles smiled. “They sound nice.” He took a deep breath. “I can do this...” Miles whispered.

Sonic's ears twitched and he smiled over at Miles. “The second you want to go home you can tell me. Even if we're just there long enough to introduce you to them.”

Miles nodded his head. “Okay.”

They walked through the main part of town in silence. Sonic noticed Miles move closer to him. He looked around at the crowded side walk. He gently bumped Miles' shoulder. “You've got this.”

Miles offered Sonic a nervous smile.

Sonic turned back to facing forward. That's when he spotted raven again. He watched as it flew from one building to the next, almost as if it was trying to stay on pace with them. As soon as they exited the main part of town and started heading to the baseball diamond, the bird went from light post to light post. He knew they were smart, but why was it following him and Miles?

Sonic was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard someone call his name. He looked up to see Luke running towards him. The kid wasn't older than twelve. “Sonic!” He exclaimed. He skid to a stop, causing the jacket hood on his head to slide off, revealing his blonde hair. “Is this Miles?” Luke asked excitedly. His blue eyes looked Miles over.

Sonic smiled. “Yeah, this is Miles. Miles, this is Luke.”

Miles offered a small wave. Luke waved back.

Sonic looked around. “So, who's all here?” He asked.

Luke smiled. “Me and Grace obviously. Ethan is here too. We're just waiting on Elias, he and Abbie are picking up Sophie,” he said.

“Great!” Sonic turned to Miles. “Come on, let's meet the others!” He carefully took one of Miles' hands and led him to the bleachers where the others were sitting.

There sat a girl just older than Luke with blonde hair tied in a ponytail wearing a t-shirt and some shorts and a boy of the same age with black hair wearing a shirt with a cartoon character on it.

“Hey Sonic!” The boy said.

Sonic waved. “Hi Ethan! Hi Grace!”

Grace waved. “Is that your new little brother?” She asked.

Sonic beamed. “Yep! Guys, this is Miles. Miles, these two are Grace and Ethan!”

Miles waved at the two. When Grace and Ethan waved back, Miles slowly relaxed.

“So we're just waiting for Elias, Abbie, and Sophie?” Sonic asked. He climbed up the back of the bleachers to slide next to Ethan. He reached down to help Miles up.

“Yep, Elias called my house saying he'd be running a little late. Abbie wanted to finish...WOAH! Is that a raven! Over there! On the fence!” Ethan pointed towards the fence line, where a big black raven sat.

Sonic looked in the direction Ethan pointed. Sonic's eyes narrowed. He was pretty sure that it wasn't the same raven that had been following them.

The raven flew over, landed on the railing next to Miles, and dropped a shiny can tab in Miles' lap.

Miles smiled, dug in his bag, and pulled out some dried cranberries to which the raven started pecking at. “Thanks!” With that, the bird flew into the trees.

Ethan stared wide eyed. “That was so cool!” He said in aw. Grace and Luke watched the bird as it disappeared in the trees before turning back to Sonic and Miles.

Miles turned to Ethan, the smile still evident on his face. He opened his mouth to respond, but was someone spoke before he could.

“Yo! Is Wednesday here?” Someone exclaimed.

They all turned to see three figures coming over, a boy with fluffy brown hair dressed in a striped shirt, torn jeans, and a jacket that was fraying at the sleeves, and two older girls, one had short curly brown hair that was dyed red the last couple inches and was dressed in a tanktop, an unzipped jacket and leggings with a backpack slung over her shoulders, and the other had dark skin, black hair in multiple braids, and was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, a hoodie tied around her waist and she was also carrying a bag.

Sonic looked at them confused. “Abbie, it's Saturday?”

The girl with the dyed hair laughed. “Sonic, I meant like Wednesday Addams, you know...from The Addams Family?”

Sonic glanced at the boy for help. “Elias?”

Elias climbed up the bleachers. “It's a group of movies, shows, and comics,” he explained.

Abbie gasped. “You haven't watched any of The Addams Family yet? Alright, next week I'm going to let you borrow Addams Family Values so you and your family can watch something other than superheroes and cars.” she said.

The other girl nudged Abbie, quieting her. “Anyways, Sonic, who's you're friend?” She asked.

Sonic gave her a small smile of thanks. “Ah! Elias, Abbie, Sophie! This is Miles. Miles, these three are Elias, Abbie, and Sophie!”

Miles waved.

Luke smiled. “You guys have the bats and balls?” He asked.

Sophie nodded and shrugged the bag off. “All in here!”

Sonic smirked. “Hey, Mary Poppins! What's in your bag?”

Abbie beamed. “Oh! Is that my nickname now?”

Sonic shrugged. “Yeah, Miles and I watched it the other day and I thought it was a good nickname for you,” he said.

Abbie smirked. “Aw, is it because I'm practically perfect in every way?”

Sonic snorted. “No, its because whenever we need something, you can pull it out of your bag!”

Abbie shrugged. “Fair!” She swung her backpack down to the ground. “Anyways! Everyone ready? Luke!”

Luke looked up. “Yeah?”

“Did you check your blood sugar?”

“Yep! It's not high or low!”

Abbie nodded. “Awesome, I've got some fruit snacks if you need any,” she said. “Grace!”

“I've got sneakers on!” Grace responded. She brought her foot up to rest next to her to show off the pink converse she had on. “No being bothered by the sand today!”

“Sweet! Ethan do you have your phone and headphones?”

Ethan dug in his pants pockets and pulled out his phone. “Yep and my headphones are in my bag!” He lifted up a small drawstring bag. “Along with my DS and fidget cube!”

“Alright, you can set the bag next to me and Sophie, we'll watch that for you. Sonic, how you feeling?”

Sonic smiled up at her. “Great! I'm excited to teach Miles how to play baseball!”

Abbie smiled. “Have fun,” she said. Abbie turned to Miles. “Anything I might need to know?” She asked.

Miles glanced over at Sonic. Sonic looked over to Abbie. “This is Miles' first time around humans that aren't Tom or Maddie,” he responded for him.

Abbie nodded her head. “Sweet, we'll try not to overwhelm him and if he does need something to relax I've got plenty of things in my bag.” She picked up her bag, and walked around to sit on the first row of bleachers, Sophie following and sitting besides her. “Alright, seems like your all set to play!”

Sonic stood up and helped Miles down the bleachers. “See, things will be fine,” he said.

Miles smiled. “Seems to be,” he said.

The group of kids gathered round. There weren't really enough of them to have an actual game of baseball, but they could just pitch and swing to see who hit the furthest and could run the most bases. Besides, Miles needed to learn how to play, so it really was for the best.

As they played and goofed around, Sonic noticed Miles relax. Sonic felt a small weight off his shoulder, he hadn't realized he was so worried about Miles being worried. Sonic had been right about Miles and Elias getting along, they were standing by the fence waiting to bat chatting, Elias very animated as he spoke with his hands.

Sonic glanced to the side where he heard Abbie say something to Sophie. He watched as both adults stood up and climbed to the top of the bleachers. A second later, Sophie was quickly running down the bleachers and moving towards the fence. Abbie leaned against the railings at the top of the bleachers, trying to make herself noticeable for some reason.

Sophie waved. “Hoodies!” She quickly ran over to Sonic. She untied the hoodie around her waist and offered it to Sonic. Sonic quickly tugged it on and then darted over to Miles.

Elias shrugged his hoodie off and offered it to Miles.

Miles accepted it but then looked over to Sonic. “What do I do and why are you wearing Sophie's jacket?”

“Put the hoodie on. I'm not really supposed to be spotted by people outside of Green Hills and the general area around it so if a car none of us recognize looks like its going to turn down this street someone throws me their hoodie...” Sonic said.

Miles pulled on the jacket and flipped the hood up. “My tail?” He asked.

Sonic stood behind him and then rested his head on Miles' head. “Head shelf...” he muttered.

“Please don't talk when you're resting your head on mine, it feels weird...”

“Okay guys, the car's passing!” Abbie called out.

They watched as a black van with darkened windows drove by. Sonic felt dread just by looking at it. Soon it was out of his view, but Abbie still watched the end of the street it drove. A few second later Abbie spoke up. “Okay! It's gone, you two can take the hoodies off! Also, I trust that thing zero percent so I'm driving everyone home!”

Sonic took the hoodie off and handed it back to Sophie. “Now?”

Abbie shrugged. “I guess you guys could play for a little longer but if that van circles around again we're leaving immediately,” she said.

Sophie offered Sonic a smile. “We'll be extra vigilant. Don't worry.”

Sonic nodded his head. He turned to Miles. “So you ready to bat again Tails?”

Miles smiled. “I think I got it this time. Just got to calculate how fast the ball is going and how hard to swing the bat!”

Sonic smiled. “Or you could keep your eye on the ball?”

“Well yeah, I kind of have to if I want to have the right numbers...” Miles replied.

The kids played for another half hour before Ethan got a call saying it was nearly time for him to come home. All the kids climbed into Abbie and Elias' family's van.

Before they pulled away from the baseball diamond, Sonic spotted a raven flying off one of the light posts that surrounded the baseball diamond.

What in the world were the ravens up to? He wondered.

Sonic was fairly certain that Maddie was the next to notice.

Sonic and Miles had joined Maddie grocery shopping the next day. It was Miles' first time going to the store and Sonic wanted to make sure he didn't get overwhelmed.

“Alright, let's go!” Maddie said as she opened the front door. She held it open as Sonic and Miles exited the house. She turned and let out an “Oh”.

Sitting on top of her car was a raven. It hopped down and flew up to Miles. The raven dropped a shiny coin in front of him.

Miles bent down and picked it up. “Wait here,” he told the raven before running back inside.

Sonic and Maddie looked at each other and then at the raven, which was waiting for Miles.

Miles rushed back out with a couple of raspberries. “Here you go! Thank you!” He said.

The raven ate the offered fruit before flying away.

“I see the ravens are still visiting? Want to see if we could make more feeders later?” Maddie said as she walked over the car.

Miles smiled. “You mean it?”

Maddie nodded her head. “Sounds like a good relaxing activity. Depending on who we run into, we might need that,” she said with a smile. She got into the driver's seat.

Sonic and Miles got into the back seat of the car. “So what's on the list? And can I add to it?” Sonic asked.

Maddie handed back the list. “Don't go too crazy,” she said. “Also if you get to add something, Miles can add something too.” She pulled out of the drive way and started driving into the main part of town.

Sonic dug out a pencil from the pocket on the front chair. “Let's see...” Sonic quickly read over the list. “Can I add a bag of those gummy sharks?” He asked.

Maddie hummed. “Yeah, but they need to last through the day. No eating them in one sitting,” she said.

Sonic nodded his head. “Alright! Anything you want Tails?” He asked.

Miles tilted his head in thought. “Those mint candies you found the other day were good. They're at this store and not another one right?”

Sonic nodded his head. “Yeah! Maddie didn't have to go out of Green Hills to find them,” he said. He jotted down pillow mint candies onto the list. “We should get Tom something. What about those mini donuts. Anything you want Maddie?”

He could see her smile through the rear view mirror. “If we're buying snack food, I'll probably buy myself some of the veggie chips I usually get.”

Sonic nodded his head and wrote down veggie chips. His ears twitched when he heard Maddie make a surprised gasp. He quickly looked up, hoping it wasn't something like, someone nearly hitting them. Instead, what he saw was a raven flying above the buildings keeping pace with the car.

Soon they pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store. Sonic, Miles, and Maddie all got out of the car. Maddie offered a hand to Miles, which he took and led him over to the sidewalk where they met up with Sonic.

“Okay guys, remember, no high speed,” Maddie said. “The aisles are not the largest and we don't want to run anybody down.”

“Yes Maddie,” Sonic said.

Maddie offered him a smile. She led the two into the grocery store. She let go of Miles' hand to grab a cart. “Alright, Miles stick with me and Sonic,” she said.

Miles nodded his head and grabbed onto the cart.

Maddie held out her hand. “List,” she said.

Sonic handed it up to her. “So, what first?” He asked.

Maddie hummed. “Let's go down this aisle and start there alright,” she said.

Sonic and Miles both nodded their heads.

As they shopped, they ran into a couple of other people. Both were surprised to see Miles, but neither were rude or too pushy. Just wanted to know what he liked to go by, when he joined the family, and how the family was getting along now.

When they got to the cash register, Sonic turned to the candy. “Alright, so gummy sharks and mint candy!” He stood on his tiptoes and grabbed the mint candies. “These ones right?”

Miles nodded his head. “Yeah!”

Sonic dropped the two bags of candy into the cart.

Maddie looked at the list. “And that's the last of it,” she said. “Thanks for the help boys!” She looked up at the lady working the cash register. “Hello Mrs. Park,” she said.

Sonic bounced so he could see over the counter. “Mrs. Park!”

Mrs. Park laughed. “Hello Sonic, oh!” She caught sight of Miles. “And who's this?”

Miles quickly ducked behind Maddie and Sonic.

Maddie smiled. “He's Miles. He's Sonic's brother,” she said simply.

Mrs. Parks smiled. “Well, your family just keeps growing. Hope the kiddos aren't running circles around you,” she said.

“You know I am Mrs. Park,” Sonic said.

Mrs. Park laughed. “I meant it as a metaphor dear, but I'm glad to know you're keeping them on their toes,” she said.

Sonic smiled up at her.

Mrs. Park and Maddie finished up the ringing and the paying. Sonic took a couple bags, Miles grabbed one of the bags, and Maddie grabbed the heavy bags.

“Bye Mrs. Park!” Sonic called out.

“Bye Sonic! Don't cause too much trouble for Maddie and Tom! And watch out for your brother!” Mrs. Park called out.

“Okay!” Sonic called out.

“Sonic, let's go!” Maddie said from the door. She offered Mrs. Park an apologetic look.

Mrs. Park just shook her head with a smile.

They walked out the door. “So how was that?” Maddie asked.

“Not too bad. They seemed nice, especially the lady at the end,” Miles said.

“Mrs. Park is cool! When you get her talking about her kids, she'll tell funny stories!” Sonic said.

Maddie smiled. “Alright, lets get these in the car. Remember to grab your candies,” she said. She looked up above her and froze. “Well, hello,” Maddie said.

Sonic and Miles looked up too. Sitting on the sign of the store were two ravens. One of them cawed in response to Maddie. They then flew away, towards the direction of the house.

Maddie shook her head. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let's follow them home,” she said.

Tom noticed when they were washing the car.

Sonic had a bucket and wash cloth in his hands. “Tom, where's the soap?!” He shouted.

“I'm coming with the soap, hold on! Miles, do not give Sonic the hose!” Tom called from inside the house, the front door wide open.

“Why?” Miles asked.

“Just don't give it to him!”

“Miles, you should totally give me the hose,” Sonic said. He had a mischievous smile across his face.

Miles shook his head. “I'm going to listen to Tom on this one and say no. What do you even want the hose for anyways?”

Sonic shrugged. “I'm just going to clean the car...”

“Or get everyone absolutely soaked,” Miles replied.

Sonic held up his hands. “Hey, we're going to get wet anyways, might as well just start out soaked!”

Miles laughed. “Absolutely not!”

Tom came out with the rest of the supplies. “Alright you two, let's get cleaning!”

Sonic nodded his head and started to work. He dumped some of the soap into his bucket, which was already full of water, and then dunked his washcloth into the mixture. He then started to wipe the side of the car down with the washcloth.

“So why are we doing this?” Miles asked after he filled up Tom's bucket.

“So the car can look nice,” Tom replied.

Miles blinked a couple times. “Okay.”

Tom smiled. “Its just another odd thing humans do,” he said.

Miles nodded his head. “So do you want me to turn this off?”

“For now, yeah. Don't want to waste the water,” he said.

Miles dropped the hose and ran to the side of the house to turn the water off. When he came back, Tom tossed his a washcloth so Miles could get started.

After working on the car for a few minutes there was the sound of a bird landing on the car. Tom looked up and let out a sigh. “You're back?”

Miles looked up. “Oh! Raven!” He said.

Tom waved at the bird. “Get off, we're trying to clean here,” he said.

The bird trilled. It then tilted its head.

“It's confused as to what you're doing?” Miles said.

“We're cleaning the car. You standing on it isn't really helping,” Tom said. He then stopped. “I'm talking to a bird...”

Sonic laughed and Miles giggled.

The bird cawed and flapped it wings. It then let out another trill.

“What did it say this time?” Tom asked.

“Once again, I don't speak bird,” Miles said.

Tom glanced at Miles. “You could have fooled me kid,” he said.

There were a few more caws from the top of the house. Tom turned to see the three other ravens up on the roof.

“What in the world is going on out here,” Maddie asked as she walked onto the porch.

“I'm pretty sure we're living through a Hitchcock film...” Tom responded.

“A what?” Sonic asked.

Tom opened his mouth but Maddie raise a her hand and pointed at Tom. “Nope! Absolutely not watching that. We're not giving our kids nightmares.”

Tom sighed. “Should we be concerned about the ravens?”

Maddie walked down the steps. “I'm more concerned about the half washed car in the driveway,” she said.

Sonic smiled up at her. “Besides they just seem to be looking out for Tails,” he said.

Maddie smiled back at him and then over to Miles. “Nothing wrong with that at all,” she said.

What Sonic didn't notice was how beneficial the birds would become.

Sonic and Miles were exploring the section of the forest that Miles had sheltered in. Miles had found a book tilted _Flora and Fauna of Montana_ on Tom and Maddie's bookshelf and wanted to go exploring, so they did.

“It looks like these are Mahonia Repens,” Miles said. He point to a patch of blue berries.

“Okay and what are they actually called? And can I eat them?” Sonic asked.

“Creeping Mahonia or Creeping Barberry, and yes you can, but they're bitter,” Miles said as he skimmed the text in the book.

Sonic reached over and picked up a berry. He popped it in his mouth.

“Sonic!” Miles exclaimed.

“What? You said they could be eaten,” he said.

Miles let out a deep sigh. He opened his mouth to respond but then he shut his mouth quickly and narrowed his eyes as his ear twitched. He slowly closed the book and tucked it back into his bag.

“Tails?” Sonic asked.

“Shush,” Miles hissed as he swatted at Sonic. Miles turned to look to his left.

Sonic frowned. “Tails, what in the world-” he was cut off as Miles lunged at him. He was pushed to the ground as he heard Miles cry out in pain.

“MILES!” Sonic shouted. He looked to see Miles, clutching his left arm where a tranquilizer dart was.

Rustling from the bushes caught Sonic's attention. Several men, all of varying heights and weights, but all were dressed in camo, stepped out of from the bushes.

“Ya shot a fox Huck,” One dressed in overalls said.

“Don't look like a normal fox,” One with a long scraggly beard responded.

“Both a you shut up, the blue alien is standing right there,” One with a bandanna said.

Sonic took a deep breath. Before he could do anything though, a chilling clacking sound came from the tree above Sonic and Miles.

The raven family flew from the trees towards the men. Not a second later a black cloud of birds descend upon the men. Birds came from the nearby trees and out of the sky.

Sonic used the distraction to his advantage. He ran over to Miles and carefully lifted him up. Sonic took off running, though not at his highest speed in case he hurt Miles even more. His first instinct was to run straight to Tom and Maddie's, but he wasn't sure if there were anymore men around and he didn't want to lead them to the house, so he ran to his old cave instead. It was closer anyways.

Sonic noticed that the four ravens had separated from the group of birds and were now following him. He nodded his head up to them.

Sonic skid to a stop as he came to the entrance of the cave. He hopped down and hid into the furthest corner he could. He sat down and rested Miles in his lap. He carefully pulled the dart out of Miles' arm. “Hey, Tails. How you doing buddy?” He asked gently.

Sonic would have thought Miles was completely out if it wasn't for the flick of his ear and the small hum that he got in response.

Sonic let out a sigh and ran his hand through his quills. “Okay, I'm going to grab the phone out of your bag and hope we have cell service. Then I'm calling Maddie,” Sonic muttered. He carefully unlooped the bag from around Miles and dug inside it. He quickly found his phone and let out a sigh of relief when he saw that he had service. He tapped Maddie's name in his contacts and sat there waiting for Maddie to pick up, absentmindedly rubbing the back of Miles' head.

“Hello,” Maddie finally answered.

“Maddie!” Sonic said.

“What's wrong?”

“Miles got hit by a tranq dart and there's these strange people out in the woods!” Sonic's voice started speeding up. “I didn't know what to do and I didn't want them following us and-”

“Sonic, deep breaths. Where are you and Miles right now?”

“I ran to the cave. I-I didn't want them to follow us back to the house,” Sonic said. He could feel his eyes water.

“Okay, stay put and don't make a noise. I need to get Tom and we'll come get you. How is Miles doing?” Maddie asked.

“He's fast asleep,” Sonic responded. He glanced worriedly at Miles. “He'll be fine right?”

“He'll be perfectly fine. Just stay there and we'll be there as soon as possible. Love you dear,” Maddie said.

“Love you too,” Sonic said. When he heard Maddie hang up, he ended the call and tucked the phone back into the bag. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He could hear the flapping of wings and the occasional trill from the ravens outside. It was comforting to know they were still keeping watch.

About a half hour later, Sonic heard footsteps just outside his cave. He held Miles closer to him as he waited to see who it was.

“Sonic?”

Sonic relaxed as Maddie's voice echoed through the cave. “Here!” He called out.

Maddie looked into the cave. “Ready to go?” She asked.

Sonic nodded his head. He looped the bag over his shoulder. He then scooped Miles into his arms and carefully stood up. He headed to the entrance, passed Miles up to Maddie, and then jumped out of the cave. He looked up to see Maddie brushing Miles' bangs out of his face. “Maddie?” He asked.

Maddies looked down at Sonic and gave him a small smile. “Let's get out of here,” she said. She offered the hand that wasn't holding Miles out to Sonic, who took it.

“Where's Tom?” Sonic asked.

“Out looking for the people who thought it was okay to shoot at our kids,” Maddie replied. She started leading him back to the house.

“They were trying to shoot at me. If Miles hadn't pushed me out of the way. If I had been paying attention...” he muttered.

“Nope, none of that,” Maddie said.

Sonic looked up. “None of what?”

“Blaming yourself. It is not your fault that Miles got hit.” Maddie looked at him. “You got him out of the situation, went some place safe, and called for help.”

Sonic let out a sigh. “The ravens called for help. You should have seen the cloud of birds that attacked the guys! It was like all the birds in the forest came to help us!”

Maddie smiled. “Won't Tom be glad,” she said.

Sonic snorted. He heard rustling in the trees beside him. He glanced up to see the ravens were following them home.

The rest of the walk home was spent in silence. When they arrived home, Sonic opened the door for Maddie.

Maddie headed over to the couch, where a pillow and blanket were already laid out. She gently laid Miles down. “Sonic, where did he get hit?” She asked.

Sonic walked over. He pointed at the spot on Miles' left arm. “Here,” he said.

Maddie nodded. “Sit and watch him while I get an alcohol wipe.” She stood up and left the room.

Sonic sat on the floor right in front of the couch. He watched as Miles slept, his chest raising up and down in deep breaths. He glanced up when Maddie walked back in.

She knelt down next to the couch and cleaned the area Sonic had pointed at. When she was finished, she stood up and draped the blanket over Miles. “Now all we need to do is wait for him to wake up,” she said. She left to throw the wipe away.

Sonic followed after her. “He's going to be alright, right? Now that you've looked him over and everything?”

Maddie knelt down next to Sonic. “Do you remember when Tom accidentally shot you in the leg with a tranquilizer dart?”

Sonic folded his arms. “It wasn't an accident but yes.”

Maddie smiled. “It's just like that. Miles will be fine, we just have to wait for him to wake up...”

Sonic rocked on his feet. “You're absolutely positive?”

Maddie scritched the top of Sonic's head between his ears. “Sonic, I'm one hundred percent positive. If it makes you feel better though, you can sit in the living room and quietly watch cartoons,” she said.

Sonic nodded his head. “Okay,” he said. He quickly darted back into the living room and turned it on, quickly turning the volume down and switching it to some cartoons. He made it through about a half of an episode before he turned to look at Miles. He focused on the rise and falling to make sure Miles was still breathing. He didn't notice the episode end and another start.

Sonic snapped out of his trance when Tom came home. When he spot Tom he quickly held a finger to his mouth. “Shh,” he whispered.

Tom relaxed and smiled at Sonic. He walked to behind the couch and peered over. “How is he doing?” He whispered.

Sonic looked down at Miles before looking back up to Tom. “Maddie says he's doing fine...” he responded.

Tom glanced over to Sonic. “And how are you doing?”

Sonic shrugged. “I'm more worried about Miles...”

Tom sighed and patted Sonic on the head. “If Maddie says he'll be fine, he'll be fine.”

Maddie walked in at that point. “How did things go?” She asked.

Tom looked up at her. “They're taken care of. You should have seen how many birds were there when I found them though. It was like the whole forest decided to ruin their day. They were completely covered in bird droppings,” Tom replied. “Also, the ravens are chilling on the roof.”

Maddie smiled. “They're just watching over Miles. Its fine.”

Tom nodded his head. “Of course.” He sat down on the chair. “So what are you watching?”

With Sonic's attention now focused on the television, time didn't seem to drag on. It didn't feel long before Miles woke up.

Sonic looked back when he heard a small hum. He watched as Miles rubbed at his eyes as he slowly woke up. “Sonic?” Miles muttered tiredly.

Sonic waved. “Morning! Well, it's nearly four pm,” he said.

Miles blinked and gave Sonic a confused look. He sat up to look at the clock on the wall behind him. “What happened?” He asked.

Sonic stood up to make sure Miles didn't tip over. “Someone shot you with a tranq dart,” Sonic explained. He sat down next to Miles. “You feeling okay?”

Miles thought for a second. “My arm's kinda tingly? Like when you hit your elbow against something. Other than that and the feeling of just waking up I'm fine.” He looked up at Sonic. “How did we get away? I don't remember...”

Sonic smiled. “Your bird friends called all of their friends and a cloud of birds attacked the people who shot you,” he said.

Miles' ears perked up. “Really?”

Sonic nodded his head. “And then I picked you up and ran some place to hide. Maddie came and found us after I called her,” he explained.

Miles looked over at Maddie, who was standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

Maddie smiled and walked over. “You had us worried for a little bit,” she said.

Miles ears flattened. “Oh...”

Maddie scritched Miles' head. “Its alright. We're family, we worry when one of our own is hurt,” she explained.

Miles felt tears well up in his eyes. He quickly wrapped his arms around Maddie and hid his face against her.

“Tails?” Sonic asked. He could hear Miles start to cry.

Tom sat up from his chair and Maddie started running her hand through the fur on the back of Miles' head.

Soon Miles moved away from Maddie and rubbed at his eyes. “Sorry, its just no one's every worried about me like you guys do. It feels nice...” he said.

Sonic offered Miles a big smile. “Well, now you've got us! Tom and Maddie worry a lot, so you'll definitely have someone looking out for you!”

Maddie folded her arms. “Who was the one asking me if I was 'absolutely positive that Miles would be okay'?”

Sonic blushed and Miles let out a giggle. Sonic was quickly wrapped up in a hug by Miles. “Thank you,” Miles said.

Sonic hugged him back. “Anything for my little bro.” There was a clicking sound and Sonic looked back to see Tom holding up his phone. “Tom, did you just take a photo?” He asked.

Tom smirked. “Perhaps. That's what parents do.” he said simply.

Sonic squirmed. “Tom, I wanna see it!”

“You need to come here to see it,” he said with a wink.

Sonic felt Miles hug him tighter. “What? Tails! Can I get up?”

Miles hummed. “Mmmm, no.”

“TAILS!” Sonic whined.

Miles started giggling. “You're trapped in my hug forever,” Miles said.

“MADDIE!”

Maddie pulled out her phone. “Oh look, its time to go make dinner!” She smiled up at Sonic. “You've got this.”

“Maddie no,” Sonic said. He started laughing. He quickly hugged Miles back. “If we don't stop him now, he's going to have way too many photos of us. Get him,” he whispered to Miles.

Miles nodded his head. “Okay!”

Sonic stopped hugging Miles. “Now!”

The two of them leapt off the couch and lunged at Tom. They grabbed for the phone.

“MADDIE!” Tom called.

Maddie's laugh came from the kitchen. “Sorry, Tom, I'm busy!”

Tom laughed. “Okay! Sit down and we'll look at photos.” He sighed and shook his head when the two settled down.


End file.
